I find that, overall, both of my cooperating teachers (CTs) tends to ask many "recall" or knowledge-based questions.
Often times though, one of my CTs especially when probed about current events, he will ask application questions. As an example, he usually has newspaper articles for the class to take home and read that relate to the topic at hand. So, one article pertained to the “blue people” of the Appalachian mountains, where a certain family line has a methemoglobinemia, (due to a lack of diaphorase enzyme in their blood). He would ask questions along the lines of “ Why do red blood cells not contain a nucleus?” or “what would happen if you did not have hemoglobin in your blood cells?” or “why did methylene blue work as a temporary fix for the people’s color?”
It is during these cases of current-event inquiry that he asks his students to be critical. Here, he encourages questioning of the information given in an article. Such as, “Could this experiment work? Why? Where did you get that information? What is the point of genetically altering fish to show florescent colors?” He also keeps a blog of interesting scientific notes and articles that he finds, so that students can keep up with him and comment on it in class.
There seems to be some variation on the questions that my CT asks when looking from class to class. I find that, since he knows the level of the class, he is predetermined to be a bit more critical of the lower level classes, even along the lines of his attitude and demeanor. In the B classes, he tends to ask more recall-based questions, and less questions that relate to current events or on his blog.
Reflections:
Strictly of my own opinion, I find that the best teachers ask more questions than answer them. It is not as if they cannot answer them, on the contrary they know the answer (which is why they ask such well done questions!); rather it is for the reason that they want you to figure it out. In figuring out the answer for yourself, it seems as if you would learn so much more about a topic if only because as you study/research/inquire about something, you have to figure out the process to the answer. By "the process to the answer", I mean that everything has a background of knowledge that you need before you can solve it. For example, if you are studying Labrador puppies, and want to know how (phylogenetically) they are related to humans, you need to first define both what a human and puppy are and are not. So, in the process, you would be finding out more information than just if they are related to one another.
More than likely, I found this idea somewhere and am relating to everyday life, however, I am not sure where I found it! If anyone has any ideas as to where it came from, let me know!
Class Topic: Biology
Grade: 10
Observed by: Lauren Paetznick
Observations/Reflections:
I find that, overall, both of my cooperating teachers (CTs) tends to ask many "recall" or knowledge-based questions.Often times though, one of my CTs especially when probed about current events, he will ask application questions. As an example, he usually has newspaper articles for the class to take home and read that relate to the topic at hand. So, one article pertained to the “blue people” of the Appalachian mountains, where a certain family line has a methemoglobinemia, (due to a lack of diaphorase enzyme in their blood). He would ask questions along the lines of “ Why do red blood cells not contain a nucleus?” or “what would happen if you did not have hemoglobin in your blood cells?” or “why did methylene blue work as a temporary fix for the people’s color?”
It is during these cases of current-event inquiry that he asks his students to be critical. Here, he encourages questioning of the information given in an article. Such as, “Could this experiment work? Why? Where did you get that information? What is the point of genetically altering fish to show florescent colors?” He also keeps a blog of interesting scientific notes and articles that he finds, so that students can keep up with him and comment on it in class.
There seems to be some variation on the questions that my CT asks when looking from class to class. I find that, since he knows the level of the class, he is predetermined to be a bit more critical of the lower level classes, even along the lines of his attitude and demeanor. In the B classes, he tends to ask more recall-based questions, and less questions that relate to current events or on his blog.
Reflections:
Strictly of my own opinion, I find that the best teachers ask more questions than answer them. It is not as if they cannot answer them, on the contrary they know the answer (which is why they ask such well done questions!); rather it is for the reason that they want you to figure it out. In figuring out the answer for yourself, it seems as if you would learn so much more about a topic if only because as you study/research/inquire about something, you have to figure out the process to the answer. By "the process to the answer", I mean that everything has a background of knowledge that you need before you can solve it. For example, if you are studying Labrador puppies, and want to know how (phylogenetically) they are related to humans, you need to first define both what a human and puppy are and are not. So, in the process, you would be finding out more information than just if they are related to one another.More than likely, I found this idea somewhere and am relating to everyday life, however, I am not sure where I found it! If anyone has any ideas as to where it came from, let me know!
Class Topic: Biology
Grade: 10
Observed by: Lauren Paetznick